The Download: Trump’s new AI order, and smart glasses for warfare

The Download: Trump’s new AI order, and smart glasses for warfare">

President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order on AI, just two weeks after scrapping a previous one. The new policy aims to promote innovation and security, but is likely to attract criticism from both opponents and supporters of stricter regulation. The order establishes a voluntary review system, where tech companies will be asked to share frontier models with the government for review 30 days before they plan to release them.

There will be no mandatory licensing, and the government will not require permits before software can be deployed. The order also establishes a dedicated AI cybersecurity clearinghouse, which will coordinate security checks with the private sector. This is a watered-down version of the order Trump shelved last month, which requested models 90 days before their release.

However, it still marks a move towards stronger AI oversight, and a clear departure from the White House's previous hands-off approach. In other news, defense-tech company Anduril has shared new details about the augmented-reality headset it's prototyping with Meta for military use. The headset aims to optimize "the human as a weapons system," with a vision for ordering drone strikes via eye-tracking and voice commands.

Quay Barnett, who leads the effort at Anduril, envisions a future where drones and soldiers can see together, share information seamlessly, and make decisions as one. Meanwhile, SpaceX plans to raise $75 billion in an IPO at $135 per share, selling 555.6 million shares. Microsoft has also launched a new AI assistant, called "Scout," which aims to "make users addicted" to its features.

And mathematicians are expressing concerns that AI threatens their field, with a new declaration raising concerns about AI's trustworthiness. In other tech news, Google must let UK publishers opt out of AI search features, and America's data center build-out is falling way behind schedule. EVs are getting cheaper worldwide, except in the US, where supportive policies and affordable Chinese EVs are lacking.

The European Parliament is also ditching Google for a French search engine called Quant. Finally, a group of activists in Marseille is resisting the rise of policing cameras in their hometown, with one developer creating a project to make residents more aware that they're being watched.